[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 107 (Monday, June 5, 2023)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 36453-36454]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-12060]


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  Federal Register / Vol. 88 , No. 107 / Monday, June 5, 2023 / 
Presidential Documents  

[[Page 36453]]


                Proclamation 10592 of May 31, 2023

                
National Homeownership Month, 2023

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                During National Homeownership Month, we recognize the 
                power of owning a home when raising a family, planting 
                roots in a community, building equity, and passing down 
                generational wealth to continue the American Dream for 
                generations to come. We recognize that a place to call 
                home, regardless of owning or renting, is essential to 
                a life of security, dignity, and hope.

                That is why my Administration is committed to removing 
                barriers to homeownership. During the COVID-19 
                pandemic, when mortgage payments became harder to make 
                and rents rose 26 percent nationally, my Administration 
                took action to ensure people could stay in their homes. 
                We extended foreclosure moratoriums for millions of 
                households, provided financial relief for homeowners 
                who had fallen behind on their mortgage payments, 
                delivered nearly 11 million emergency rental assistance 
                payments, developed the first ever national 
                infrastructure to stop eviction, and provided 70,000 
                emergency housing vouchers. To build on this progress, 
                we recently awarded more than 19,000 new Housing Choice 
                Vouchers--the largest expansion of flexible rental 
                assistance in 20 years.

                We are taking additional steps to make housing more 
                affordable. Over the past decades, rising prices have 
                forced people to spend more than 30 percent of their 
                incomes on housing in many places around the country, 
                too often locking Americans out of the prospect of 
                buying a home altogether. In February, the Department 
                of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) made annual 
                mortgage insurance premiums cheaper, saving Americans 
                with Federal Housing Administration (FHA)-insured 
                mortgages an average of $800 per year. The FHA also 
                made it easier for first-time homebuyers to qualify for 
                mortgage financing by allowing underwriters to take 
                into account positive rental history to determine 
                creditworthiness. And HUD is making it easier for 
                Americans to access resources that help with 
                homeownership, foreclosure avoidance and eviction, 
                financial literacy, financial planning, and more.

                At the same time, we are hard at work implementing our 
                Housing Supply Action Plan with a goal of addressing 
                and eliminating the root causes of the affordable 
                housing shortfall by 2027. That includes making it 
                easier to build mixed-income housing using Low-Income 
                Housing Tax Credits. We have helped housing projects 
                build multifamily homes by making more affordable 
                financing options available. And with the historic 
                investments through my Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, 
                we are making low-interest loans available to 
                developers and State, local, Tribal, and territorial 
                governments to build new housing close to public 
                transit locations. The law will also connect 
                communities with vital resources like water and high-
                speed internet that increase home values and a tax base 
                to fund important things like local schools.

                Today, across America, there is a historic number of 
                affordable, multifamily units currently under 
                construction. And my Fiscal Year 2024 Budget calls for 
                $175 billion to build on this progress. It would 
                provide down payment assistance to first-time, first-
                generation homebuyers--helping to make a key part of 
                the American Dream a reality. It would create a new tax 
                credit

[[Page 36454]]

                to directly support building or renovating affordable 
                homes for low- or middle-income buyers. It would also 
                help State and local governments fight restrictive 
                zoning laws and other red tape that stalls new 
                construction and drives up housing prices. Further, my 
                Budget includes provisions to prevent evictions and 
                bring us closer to our goal of reducing homelessness by 
                25 percent by 2025.

                These actions go hand-in-hand with our work to combat 
                racial discrimination in housing, including everything 
                from ending the legacy of redlining to addressing the 
                cruel fact that a home owned by a Black family is too 
                often undervalued compared to the same kind of home 
                owned by a white family. The Fair Housing Act bans 
                discrimination against renters or potential buyers on 
                the basis of race, but studies show that many Americans 
                are still denied equal treatment in the housing market. 
                That is why the Department of Justice and HUD are 
                cracking down on discrimination and why my 
                Administration is taking bold action to root out bias 
                in the appraisal process.

                I have often said that the middle class is not just a 
                number--it is a value set. It is about the issues that 
                matter to every American family: a good education; 
                economic opportunity; and access to quality, affordable 
                health care. Having a safe, decent, and affordable 
                place to call home is a key part of that.

                NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of 
                the United States of America, by virtue of the 
                authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws 
                of the United States, do hereby proclaim June 2023 as 
                National Homeownership Month. I call upon the people of 
                this Nation to safeguard the American Dream by ensuring 
                that everyone has access to an affordable home in a 
                community of their choice.

                IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 
                thirty-first day of May, in the year of our Lord two 
                thousand twenty-three, and of the Independence of the 
                United States of America the two hundred and forty-
                seventh.
                
                
                    (Presidential Sig.)

[FR Doc. 2023-12060
Filed 6-2-23; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3395-F3-P